Movable supporting device



1941- J. c. TROTTER 2,252,534

' MOVABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed April 25, 19 40 4 Sheets-Sheet 1- './0//)v 6'. Teafnse Aug. 12,1941. J. c. TROTTER 2,252,534

- MOVABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed April 25, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 1 2, 1941;

J. c. TROTTER MOVABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 25, 1940 Y Ha 1941- J. C. TROTTER 2,252,534

I MOVABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed April 25, 1940 4 Sheets-Shag; 4

lIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIIA III/IIIIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Ja/w 61807756 Patented Aug. 12, 1941 MOVABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE John G. Trotter, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Bell Aircraft Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 25, 1940, Serial No. 331,615

10 Claims.

The present invention relates to a movable supporting device, and more particularly to a dolly to be used in parking airplanes in confined or restricted areas such as, on aircraft carriers, in hangers, etc. Of course, the scope of my invention is not thus limited, since the dolly can be employed to park automobiles in garages, for instance. Y

It is well recognized that the parking of airplanes on anaircraft carrier is very difllcult by virtue of the restricted space. Much trouble has been encountered in parking airplanes by reason of the non-swiveling mounting of the main landing wheels to the body of the airplane, and particularly in removing a single plane fromthe parked line. I

The present practice,'therefore, is undesirable for several reasons, among which are the following, first, it reduces materially the number of planes that can be conveniently handled 'on an aircraft carrier; second, it consumes a large amount of time in getting the plane into its parked position, and; third, it will not permit the easy removal of a plane from its parked position in the line to the runway for take-off.

As far as I know, there has never been proposed any feasible method that will enable planes to be parked in areas such as above mentioned that will not. be open to the foregoing and other disadvantageous features. The present inven tion was devised to overcome the above defects and to provide a construction by which an airplane can be easily and quickly. placed into or removed from the line.

spotting dolly that will enable airplanes or the (cl. zap-2) pivotally mounted to the truck and a fluid operating lifting device is associated therewith to cause pivoting of the gripping means to elevate the landing wheel. I l

The gripping means is so pivoted to the truck that there is progressively less ueezing of the' tire and more raising action on he tire as the pivoting to. elevate the wheel continues. .The

the aircraft carrier.

fluid operated device is actuated by manipulating a handle carried by the truck until the wheel is raised clear of the ground and the wheel is lowered by merely opening a valve in the fluid system. r

In operation, a truck or dolly is wheeled up to each of the main landing wheels of the plane and the gripping means of each dolly is engaged on After the gripping means has been adjusted to fit the tires, the operator the respective tires.

. has been parked, a valve is opened which perliketo be parked in restricted areas that is quickly operated:land that is adjustable for ferent sizes of airplanes.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a dolly for use on aircraft carriers that will permit airplanes to be parked much closer than was heretofore possible.

A still further object of my invention is to'provide a potting dolly for aircraft which can be inexpensively manufactured, which is highly-emcient and quick in operation and which is collapsible so as to take up.a minimum of stowage space.

.To accomplish the foregoing and other objects, this invention comprises a wheeled truck that carries gripping means to hold the tire of the landing wheel of the airplane. Manually oper ated means is provided to adjust the gripping means to permit the truck to be used with all use with difsizes, of airplanes. The tire gripping means is mits the gripping means to descend until the landing wheels of the plane again rest on the V supporting surface. The'operating means for the gripping means is then manipulated to free the gripping means from the tire and each dolly is removed from its respective landing wheel.

In the drawings in which "like numerals indicate the same or similar parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my novel spotting dolly.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Email is aview 'similartol igure lshowing the wheel in raised position. Figure 4 is an end view showing the operating handle in its folded position in dot and dash lines. Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along'the line 6-4 of Figure 2.

Figure '7 is a diagrammatic view in transverse I a screw member 3 is iournaled in parallel spaced relation thereto by radial arms 4. Slidably mounted 'on the tube 2 at each end thereof is a threaded ends 8 of the screw member 3. Pivotaliy attached to brackets 3 carried by each frame 5 at ID are a pair of gooseneck arms II. A shoe I2 is pivoted at l3 to the lower ends of the arms (Figure 2). As shown in Figures 2 and 6, each. pair of arms H is joined by a cross tube M which carries lugs l5, and the end of a piston rod I6 is pivoted thereto, as shown at IT. The piston rod l6 has a piston head l3 which moves in a cylinder l9. The lower end of the cylinder I9 is pivotaliy attached to a bracket 20 secured to the frame 5, as shown at 2|.

Mounted to rotate on the screw 3 is a yoke 22 to which is swingably attached an operating handle 23 that is adaptedv to be fixedly secured in line with the yokeby any suitably locking means. Journaled in the yoke and extending parallel thereto. is a shaft 24, the lower end of which carries a bevel pinion 25 that meshes with a bevel gear 26 secured to the screw 3. The opposite end of the shaft 24 has a slot 21 that engages a key 28 on one end of a second shaft 29 that is journaled in brackets 30 attached to the handle 23. The upper end of the shaft 29 carries a miter gear 3| that meshes with a miter gear 32 on a stub shaft 33 joumaled in the handle 23.

An operating crank 34 is secured to the stub shaft 33, and as a consequence, rotation of the crank will impart rotary movement to the screw 3 through the above described gearing and cause each caster frame 5 to move toward or away from each other along the horizontal tube 2.

As best shown in Figure 4, the yoke 22 has an extension 36 which is slotted as shown at 31. Pivotally connected in each slot 31 are reduced ends of a pair of small pistons 33 which reciprocate in cylinders 39 formed in a hydraulic pump unit 40 which is adjustably pivoted as at 40 to an offset arm 4|!" integral with thetube 2. It can be seen in Figure 7 that the'pump 40 is provided with a fluid reservoir 4| for the cylin-' ders' 39 that communicates with the cylinders through ducts 42 in which are disposed ball check valves 43. Positioned below each cylinder 39 in a bore 44 is a second ball check valve 48. Each bore 44 is in communication with a horizontal passage 46. A flexible conduit 47. is detachably secured to the outlet of each passage 46 and the opposite end thereof is secured to a nipple 48 provided on the cylinders l9 at the lower end thereof. It will be appreciated, therefore, from the above description that the pump unit 40 is in communication with each cylinder i9 associated with the arm II and its shoe l2. The handle 23 is pivoted to the yoke as shown at 50 and is rigidly secured thereto by a locking device 5|.

When the handle 23 is pumped, fluid from the reservoir 4| will be sucked into the cylinders 39 on the up stroke of the pistons and be forced past check valves 35, into the passages 45, through conduits 8i, andinto each cylinder it on the down stroke. It is apparent, therefore, that the fluid in the cylinder l9 will move the piston rod i6 upwardly, and by virtue of its attachment to the arms H, the shoe i2 will be moved upwardly about the pivot point l0, thus elevating the wheel.

In order to lower the pistons I6, it will be seen that the pump unit 40 is formed with a longitudinal bore 55 in which slides a rod 56. The upper edge of the rod is formed with notches 51. into which fit thelower ends of mushroom valves 58 mounted in the bores 44 below the check valves 45. The lower portion of each bore 44 communicates with a passage 59 through a restricted orifice 60. A vertical passage connects each passage 59 with the reservoir 4|. By moving the bar 55 to a position where the lower ends of the valves 58 will be moved out of the notches 51, the valves will be raised from their seats and the fiuid from the cylinders l9 may be returned to the reservoir 4| through the restricted orifices 60. It will be appreciated that by virtue of the restricted orifice 60, the pistons IE will descend slowly in their cylinders, and there can be no jarring or sudden shock imparted to the airplane.

-By actuating the locking device 5|, the offset portion 36 which carries the operating handle 23 is free to be moved about its pivot 50 to the folded position shown in the dot-dash lines, and as a result, the dolly does not take up much space and can be conveniently stored.

In operation, each frame I is moved up to the landing wheels of the airplane. The shoes l2 are adjusted by means of the crank 34 until they .engage the outer periphery of the tire as shown in Figure 1. The operator then actuates the handle 23 to operate the pump unit 40 and the fluid will be forced into each cylinder I9, thus moving the piston I6 therein and pivot the arms II and shoe |2 about the point II). In Figure 8,it will be observed that when the shoe reaches the point where it is approximately horizontal with the point of pivoting l0 that there is practically little or no squeezing of the tire but considerable lift is imparted to it, or, in other words, the arms H are so-pivoted to the caster frame 5 that there is progressively less squeezing and more elevating action on the tire as the pivoting of the arm conairplane will be resting on the casters 6. In view of the fact that the tail wheel of the plane is also castered, the airplane may be moved at any angle, and as a result, it is a relatively simple matter to park the airplane in a restricted area.

After the airplane has been parked and it is desired to remove each dolly from the landing wheels, the bar 55 is moved'so that the valves 58 will open and the fluid in the cylinders I9 will then flow back into the oil reservoir 4|. However, due to the restricted orifice 60, the arms H and the shoes |2 will descend slowly, thus preventing any shock from being impartedto the ship, which is highly desirable. When the tires of the landing wheels again contact the supporting surface. the crank 3 3 is manipulated to move the shoes l2 out of engagement with the tires and each dolly can then be wheeled away from the airplane.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention,'I wish. it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration, as it is apparent that many changes and variations may be made therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

face comprising a frame, arms pivoted to the I claim: 1. A spotting dolly of the type adapted for movement in all directions on a supporting surface comprising a frame, arms pivoted to the 1 arms to raise the wheel.

3. In a spotting dolly for raising'the wheel of a vehicle, a support, arms pivoted to the support,-

shoes pivoted to the arms and adapted-to contact a wheel, screw adjustment means to cause initial contact of the shoes with the wheel, and fluidoperatingmeans to cause pivoting. of the arms to raise the wheel, said arms being pivoted to the support in substantially the plane of maximum elevation of the shoe whereby there is a decreasing amount of gripping on the wheel with a corresponding increase in lift to the wheel.

4. A spotting dolly of the type adapted for movement in all directions on a supporting surface comprising a frame, arms pivoted to the frame, shoes pivoted to the arms and adapted to contact a wheel, a cylinder pivoted to the frame, a piston movable in the cylinder, the piston being attached tothe arms, and means to cause said piston to move whereby the arms are pivoted to elevate the wheel. l

.5. A spotting dolly of the type adapted for 'movement in all directions on a supporting surface comprising a support, a frame carried at each endof the support and slidable thereon, arms pivoted to each frame, shoes pivoted to the arms and adapted to contact a wheel, means to slide said frames whereby the shoes will engage the wheel, a cylinder pivoted to each frame, pistons movable in the cylinders, the pistons being attached to the arms, and means to admit fluid into the cylinders to cause the pistons to move the arms on their pivots to elevate thewheels.

6. A spotting dolly. of the type adapted for movement in all directions on a supporting surframe, shoes pivoted to the arms and adapted to contact the wheel, and means to pivot the arms to elevate the wheel, said arms being pivoted to the frame in substantially the plane of maximum elevation of the shoe whereby there is a decreasing amount of squeeze on the wheel with a corresponding increase in lift to the wheel.

7. In a spotting dolly for raising the wheel of I a vehicle, a support, combined gripping and raising means for the wheel pivoted to the support, said gripping and raising means being pivoted to the support in substantially the plane of maximum elevation of the said means whereby there is a decreasing amount of gripping on the wheel with a corresponding increase in liftto the wheel, and devices to actuate said gripping and raising means.

8. In a spottingdollyfor raising the wheel of a vehicle, a support, combined wheel gripping and raising devices pivoted to the support, and means to move said gripping and raising devices to grip the wheel, the point of pivoting of said combined wheel gripping and raising devices to the support being so .disposed that there is .more, gripping than raising action at the first part of the pivoting, and less gripping and more raising action at the latter part of the pivoting.

9. In a spotting dolly for raising the wheel of a vehicle, .a support, combined wheel gripping and raising means pivoted to the support, and screw operated means to move said combined wheel gripping and raising means to grip the wheel, the point of pivoting of the wheel gripping and raising means to the support being in substantially the plane of maximum elevation of the said means whereby there is a decreasing amount of gripping on the wheel with a corresponding increase in lift to the wheel.

10. In a spotting dolly for raising the wheel of a vehicle, a support, arms pivoted to the support, shoes pivoted to the arms and adapted to contact a wheel, and means to move'the arms and shoes to a position to grip the wheel, the point of pivoting of the arms to the support being in substantially the plane of maximum elevation of the shoe whereby there is a decreasing amount of ripping on the wheel with a corresponding increase in lift to the wheel.

JOHN C. 'TRO'I'I'ER. 

